Braised Chicken with Shallots

Finally, we were rid of the flu and cough bug. So, it was back to cooking chicken for our meals. Looking back at previous meals, I thought it would be good to cook a Chinese dish this weekend. And of course, a simple and quick one at that.

Braised Chicken with Shallots (recipe from here)

Ingredients :

- 4 chicken thighs & drumsticks, chopped
- 10 shallots, washed & peeled
- 2 nos garlic, sliced
- 5 nos ginger, sliced
- 1 tsp black soy sauce

Marinate:
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp light soya sauce
- 4 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- pepper to taste

Directions :

1. Marinade chicken with the marinate. Set in the fridge for 3 hours or longer.

2. Heat up olive, saute shallots, garlic and ginger till fragrant.

3. Add chicken, stir fry the chicken till tender and fragrant.

4. Add water - the water should cover the chicken.

5. Cover the wok lid. Simmer under low fire for about 10-15mins or till gravy thicken. (Note : The gravy didn't seemed to be thickening at this point, so I added in some cornstarch mixed with water)

6. Add dash of salt.

7. Add black soy sauce, stir well & dish up. Serve hot.

Salmon and Broccoli Spaghetti

I made this about 2 weeks ago, when the husband and I were both attacked by the flu bug. The husband was worse off than I was, he got the cough as well. So, when he mentioned he wanted to eat at home for dinner, I had to think of something that was suitable for the sick. And according to my mother and Chinese physician, it is not good to take chicken when you are having a cough, though there are no real scientific evidence, but I had some experience in that, so I'd rather avoid it till we're ok.

So, off I went to the Internet (what would I do without it??!) to search for a quick and simple dinner. And I came across one with minimal ingredients, and decided to tweak it by adding some broccoli for a more balanced meal.

Salmon and Broccoli Spaghetti (recipe adapted from here)
2 servings

Ingredients :

- 1 steak salmon
- 200ml whipping cream
- spaghetti for 2
- broccoli florets
- 1 teaspoon tomato puree
- a little butter for frying
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (I omitted this)

Directions :

1) Season the salmon with some salt and black pepper. Then put it into the oven at 220 degrees Celsius for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the salmon.

2)While the salmon is baking, boil the water and cook the spaghetti. When the water boils, what I did was to scoop some out to blanch the broccoli separately. Leave the broccoli in the water for about 3-5 minutes, then drain and set them aside.

3) When the salmon is cooked, it should be light pink and be able to flake apart easily when prodded with a fork. Break the salmon in the desired size and set aside.

4) When the pasta is within a few minutes of being done, heat up a pan and melt the butter over low heat. Add in the whipping cream, cayenne pepper (if using), tomato puree, salmon, broccoli, and salt and pepper to taste.

5) Gently heat this for a few minutes until hot (but NOT boiling), then add in the spaghetti, mixing it well to coat with the sauce. Serve immediately.

To the cinema : Iron Man 2

Yup, there is something about the movies these days with the word "man" in them. Haha. And after watching 2 movies in 2 days, I think it will be quite a while before we go for another one.

Anyway, back to Iron Man 2. Honestly, I'm not as impressed as I was with the first one. But at least, in my opinion, it was not as bad as some other sequels had been. At least it was  entertaining, not the "wow" kind, but the "oh ok" kind. And thinking back to the movie, there was actually not much of a storyline. I thought it was just to show off all the high-tech technologies and to impress audience with the animations. Other than that, it was like the team just tried to put together a movie just for the sake of a sequel. Even the action parts of the movie were not too exciting, with the bad guy struck down so fast when he was portrayed as such a genius? And what exactly is Scarlett Johansson doing in there? I can see the whole movie going on smoothly even without her. Unless it was like the rumours going around that there will be another movie with her character in it, Captain America and Thor...

Personally, I feel that there is only one climatic moment for Iron Man and Iron Man 2, that is the part where Tony Stark actually admitted that he is the superhero. So, with that already done, I didn't have much expectations for the sequel. I thought the point of being superhero is to be anonymous? Or maybe Iron Man just wants to be different from the other superheroes?

Plus one (I mean, the age...)

I guess I don't so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old.

~ Peter Gabriel ~

This is one of the much quieter birthdays I had compared to previous years... since I've been at home for the past few months, looking for another job. I'm not very particular about big birthday celebrations and such. I'll be happy to just spend some time with the family, or husband, or just as a "me, myself and I" day.

Also, as time goes by, (I'm sure some will agree), we would rather not be reminded of our birthdays, coz it means that we are getting older. It's a totally different feeling when you think of yourself being 32 years old, and when someone else reminds you that you are 32. Although the number is the same, it always sounds much older when other people talk about it, compared to just thinking about it in my mind. Or is it just me that feels this way...

To the cinema : Ip Man 2

I can't remember if there were any sequels to any movies that we looked forward to as much as Ip Man 2. A little more than a year has passed since the first Ip Man movie had came out, and it's always a little worrying that sequels will never be as good as the first.

But after watching it, I personally felt that it was almost as good as the first movie. In the first movie, it was Chinese vs Japanese, and in this sequel, it was Chinese vs British. Since it was a semi-biographical film, the storyline is kind of simple and expected. So nothing much to say about it without revealing the whole movie. But no complaints there coz the fight scenes and Donnie Yen alone makes up for everything! Haha.

Chicken, Leek and Tomato Soup

This was made a few weeks back and I had forgotten about it until I went through the photos in my phone. No, I didn't use a camera for my photos. Nearly all the photos of the dishes that I cooked were taken by my phone's camera, and thus, the non-professional look and poor lighting. But I do try to make them presentable.

Anyway, I was looking for something light for dinner that day and the husband was feeling abit under the weather, so I thought of soup, and some toasted small buns to go along.

Chicken, Leek and Tomato Soup (recipe from : Quick Short Chicken Recipes)
4 servings

Ingredients :

- 60g butter
- 3 leeks, thinly sliced
- 3 chicken breast fillets
- 3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 425g can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil leaves
- chopped basil, extra, to garnish

Directions :

1) Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the leek and cook for 2 minutes without browning.

2) Halve the chicken breast fillets lengthways and thinly slice them. Increase the heat, add the chicken to the saucepan and cook for 3 minutes, or until the chicken is browned.

3) Add the stock, garlic, tomato, sugar and basil. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. Season and garnish with extra fresh basil. Serve with crusty bread.

Sausage and Pasta

As I've mentioned before, it will be expected to see repeated ingredients from a previous dish as I can't vary the amount to be bought to suit to just the two of us. So, here it is again, the last Polish sausage from dinner previously. I adapted this from a real simple recipe, and the difference is that, the original calls for beer, but mine has chicken stock instead. Coz the husband and I are not beer persons. However, I might still give the beer version a try some time.

Sausage and Pasta (adapted from here)

1 serving

Ingredients :

- sphagetti for one

- 1 Polish sausage, sliced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

- about 1/3 cup of chicken stock

- pepper to taste

- red pepper flakes (optional)

- dried parsley for garnish

Directions :

1) Heat up some olive oil in a pan. Saute the onion for a few seconds. Then add in the garlic and sausage to saute for about 3-4 minutes.

2) Add pepper and red pepper flakes (if using) to taste.

3) Add the chicken stock, cover, and let the liquid reduce to a little less than half on high heat. You can cook the pasta while the sauce is reducing.

(Note : I didn't add any salt because the chicken stock and the sausage provided enough saltiness for me, however, you can always adjust it according to your taste after you add in the chicken stock)

4) Serve the sausage and onion over the pasta. Make sure you get the sauce over everything. Enjoy!

Sausage and Mushroom Sphagetti

When it comes to cooking, I like to have a bit of time to plan ahead. Time to think of what to cook, time to look through my recipes collection slowly and see which is the one that will catch my attention that day. But once in a while, dinner plans will pop up at the last minute and I just had to come up with something fast. And so, here is my quick and easy sausage and mushroom sphagetti :

Sausage and Mushroom Sphagetti

2 servings

Ingredients :

- sphagetti for two

- 2 Polish sausages, sliced (I bought 3 Polish sausages for $5.50 from Cold Storage)

- 1 pack (~125g) white mushrooms, sliced

- 4 cloves of garlic, minced (coz the husband likes a lot of garlic in his food)

- half a bottle of pasta sauce (from the 397g kind, can adjust according to your preference for the sauciness)

- handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped

- black pepper

- grated Parmesan cheese

Directions :

1) Cook sphagetti according to the package instructions. 

2) Meanwhile, heat up some olive oil in pan and stir-fry the sausages till the oil is released. Dish out the sausages and set aside, leaving the oil in the pan.

3) Add in the mushroom and garlic, and fry till the mushroom is almost cooked. Add in the cooked sausages and fry for a few seconds.

4) Add in the pasta sauce and basil, and stir to combine all the ingredients together, until the sauce has been heated up.

5) Turn off the heat and add in the cooked spaghetti to the sauce, or vice versa. Season with black pepper and your desired amount of Parmesan cheese. Serve.

Auntie Tips (21)

Tip 1 :
Don't throw away clothes with sweat stains just yet. You can get rid of the stains by dissolving three aspirin tablets in a large bowl filled with water, and then soaking the shirt or top in the mixture for one hour. Launder as usual.

Tip 2 :
To clean a thermos, just pour a tablespoon of salt and some ice cubes into the flask. Close and swirl so that the salt and ice cubes lightly scour the bottom and inside of the flask. Rinse thoroughly before use.

Tip 3 :
To remove dirt from your favourite leather bag and make it almost as good as new, just rub the surface with medicated oil.

Tip 4 :
So your fridge becomes sparkling white and smells minty fresh, apply toothpaste on the inside and scrub with a sponge, brush or rag. Wipe with a cloth to dry.

Tip 5 :
It can be irritating to walk and move when your dress is clingingg to you due to static. To solve this, just pin a small safety pin onto the seam of your skirt or dress. The same thing goes for slacks that cling when you wear panty hose.

From : Women's Weekly - Nov 2008

One Pot

This kind of one pot dish is not only simple to cook, but also allows you the flexibility to add whatever you like into it. There is also less washing up to do, and is one complete meal when served with rice. Do refer to the original recipe for more ideas for ingredients if you are cooking for more than 2 persons.

One Pot (recipe adapted from here)
2 servings

Ingredients :

- 1 tube silken tofu
- 1 pack of Shimeji mushroom
- 1 broccoli
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 4 mini fishcakes, cut into 3 pieces each
- 8 grey prawns, shelled and deviened
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can chicken broth (~240ml)
- fried shallots, as garnish

Directions :

1) Marinate prawns with salt and pepper. Set aside for 10 mins.

2) Cut away the bottom part of the mushrooms and separate them. Blanch in hot water for a few minutes til they turned slightly soft. Drain and set aside.

3) Blanch broccoli and carrot in some oil with hot boiling water. Drain and set aside separately.

4) Heat up some oil in a claypot. Saute garlic til fragrant.

5) Add in carrots and stir-fry for a few minutes. Then add in the fishcakes and stir-fry for a few seconds.

6) Add in the chicken broth, and braise at medium heat for about 5 minutes. After that, give the soup a taste to see if salt needs to be added. (I didn't add any seasonings coz the canned chicken broth is already salty enough.)

7) Add in prawns, and simmer till they just turned pink. Add in the mushrooms, broccoli and tofu. Let it simmer for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, garnish with fried shallots and serve hot.